Ranbir Kapoor rejected Cocktail, reveals Saif Ali Khan: ‘Deepika’s part was so delicious’

3 min readMumbaiJun 20, 2026 11:33 AM IST

Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone in a still from Tamasha.

Cocktail 2, the sequel to Homi Adajania’s 2012 romantic drama Cocktail, just released in theatres. While the film has received largely mixed reviews, many social media users have found themselves revisiting the original, which starred Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, and Diana Penty. Interestingly, Saif recently revealed that he was not the first choice for the film. According to the actor, the makers had initially approached many popular actors, including Ranbir Kapoor.

‘They had asked Ranbir Kapoor’

Recalling the casting process, Saif told Variety India, “They had Deepika and Diana, but they couldn’t get a hero to play the part, probably because Veronica’s (played by Deepika) part is so delicious. I remember some names they asked. I think they had asked Imran Khan and they had asked Ranbir Kapoor. And they had asked a few people, and I said, ‘Okay, cool, I’ll do it.’ And I think they should all be very thankful I did. That’s my story. Yeah, because I had great fun. I love Homi. And we had a good time doing it.”

Ranbir Kapoor is ‘not a big fan of Cocktail’

A few years earlier, while promoting Tamasha in a conversation with NDTV, Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone had also spoken about Cocktail and the decision to take up the film. Deepika revealed that Ranbir had initially been unsure about her choice. “At the time I was about to do the film, I was preparing to go to London to shoot for Cocktail, and he (Ranbir) felt that it wasn’t the right film for me,” she said.

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Ranbir was quick to explain his perspective, saying, “What happened was that the director of Cocktail, Homi Adajania, a wonderful director and a dear friend, had made a particular kind of film. I didn’t know what the script of Cocktail was; I just knew that Imtiaz had written it. So when Deepika was about to do the film, she had a lot of good offers at the time, but she chose Cocktail. She saw something special in Cocktail that I probably didn’t see. So I asked her, ‘Why are you doing this film? You have so many good directors waiting to work with you. Why don’t you do one of those films instead?’ But I think that was entirely her choice and her instinct, which turned out to be better than mine. As a friend, I simply asked her. I questioned it.”

Hearing this, Deepika asked him, “What I wanted to ask you was: did your opinion change after the film?” To this, Ranbir replied, “To be honest, I’m not a big fan of the film. I’m a big fan of what she did in the film.”

Cocktail eventually proved to be a turning point in Deepika Padukone’s career. Her portrayal of Veronica earned widespread acclaim and helped establish her as one of the leading stars of her generation, paving the way for an extraordinary run in the years that followed.